Beauty redefined: Exploring media literacy perceptions and body image in young women

Investigating how a media literacy education intervention tool affects women’s self-objectification, self-esteem, and body satisfaction was the first purpose of the study. Secondly, participants’ perceptions of media literacy education interventions and of media imagery were explored. Objectification theory was used as a framework for understanding media imagery effects. One hundred and eighty three participants completed the online study. Participants were mainly recruited from the undergraduate Psychology participant pool at the University of Saskatchewan. The control group (n = 99) viewed a compilation of magazine advertisements and completed measures of self-objectification (i.e., the Self-Objectification Questionnaire), self-esteem (i.e., the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale), body satisfaction (i.e., the Body Image States Scale), and media attitudes (i.e., the Media Attitudes Questionnaire). The intervention group (n= 84) received a media literacy education intervention tool (i.e., the Evolution video, by Dove), viewed magazine advertisements, and completed the same measures of self-objectification, self-esteem, body satisfaction, and media attitudes. The intervention group also completed open-ended questions about their perceptions of the intervention. Analyses included independent t-tests, Pearson correlations, descriptive statistics, and thematic analysis. Results indicated no significant differences between the control and intervention conditions for self-esteem, self-objectification, body-satisfaction, and media attitudes. Although significant correlations were found, most were in the direction that did not align with the predictions. A descriptive analysis indicated that women’s perceptions of themselves are negatively affected by media material. The thematic analysis demonstrated that viewing the intervention was both positively and negatively perceived. Results and limitations of the current study are discussed. Implications for practice and future research are also identifie